Black Women are the Archetype

Black women embody the essence of culture.

They cannot steal culture, because they are culture defined.

It is important to contextualize the practice of cultural appropriation when discussing this act. Culture appropriation can be defined as "the adaptation of elements from one culture by members of another culture, often without permission or understanding." This practice is usually done by the dominant race to perpetuate stereotypes against marginalized communities; or to decontextualize cultural symbols and phenomenon in an attempt to remove their power and significance. Cultural appropriation is centered around power, and rewriting history.

When Africans were transplanted to America through the transatlantic slave trade, they brought their knowledge of agriculture with them. They had been utilizing indigo long before they arrived here on a slave ship and if not for them, plantation owners never would have learned to scale its production. It was their back breaking labor that made cotton king.

Without their skilled hands, there'd be no denim. They are the cultural architects of this phenom.

It is a disservice to black people to discount their contribution to America. They are the originators, not the appropriators.

The dominate race would have you believe that white people are responsible for denim. They have tried to rebrand it over the years. The truth is that enslaved people were relegated to wear denim due to the durability of its fabric while working the fields while whites wore linen and lace to set themselves apart.

Many black people continued to wear denim as sharecroppers once slavery was over in name but continued in practice. While many black people began to trade denim for suits and dresses to discard the relics of slavery when migrating north, denim found a resurgence during the labor and civil rights movements as a homage.

Black people are America's cowboys. We have been the outcast and outlaws of this country since we were enslaved by the dominant race in furtherance of Eurocentric hegemony and dominion. Beyonce partnership with Levi's is more of a homage to her ancestors than any one person.

If the dominant race missed the visuals of Cowboy Cartner, they missed the retelling of our story in America. The visuals of Cowboy Cartner were a homage to the ancestors, the ones whose hands were stripped as they picked cotton and cultivated indigo in the name of white supremacy; the ones who were beaten to death and strung up in trees; the ones on the front lines of protest and the shadows whose contributions have gone unsung; the ones who refused to die so we could be here.

Beyonce's partnership with Levi's is about reclaiming our history.